Dodgers To Have Another Meeting With Roki Sasaki

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Right-hander  will need to pick his next team in the next few days and has reportedly narrowed his choice to the Blue Jays, Padres and Dodgers. He was recently in Toronto and San Diego to meet with those clubs and will now be meeting with the Dodgers today, per a report from .  This tracks with the plan previously laid out by Sasakis agent Joel Wolfe at the Winter Meetings . Wa serman, Wolfes agency, initially hosted several clubs for meetings at the companys Los Angeles headquarters. After that, the plan was for Sasaki to head home to Japan for the holidays, then visit some of his top choices in their home cities. One of the notable differences with the second round of meetings is that clubs have been permitted to bring players.  Sasakis decision is arguably the most  Kawhi Leonard Jersey impactful one of the offseason. He is considered to be capable of stepping right into a big league rotation, po sibly delivering ace-level performance. He has a 2.10 earned run average in his Nippon Profe sional Baseball career, striking out 32.7% of batters faced. Such a player would normally require a ma sive financial investment but Sasaki will sign for a just a few million bucks.  Since he is coming to North America at the age of 23, Sasaki is considered an amateur by MLBs rules, which require a player to be 25 years old with six profe sional seasons of experience to be considered a profe sional. That means he is subject to the international bonus pool system, under which each team gets about $5-8MM annually to spend on such players. A team can trade for more pool space but cant increase its initial allotment by more than 60%. The signing team will also owe a posting fee to the Chiba Lotte Marines, though the size of that fee is calculated based on the size of the contract, so it will also be small.  Its a decision that therefore will have ma sive ramifications for years to come. Its unknown what criteria Sasaki will be using to pick his next team, since money seemingly wont be a big factor, so the baseball world has been left to mostly gue s about his priorities.  The Dodgers have been seen as a frontrunner for a long time, due to various reasons. Japanese players often prefer to be on the West Coast, in part due to its relative proximity compared to East Coast clubs. The Dodgers are also a very succe sful franchise, having a postseason run going back more than a decade now and a World Series victory just a few months ago. They also have other Japanese players on the roster in  and  , which could be a draw for Sasaki.  On the flipside, there are arguments against the Dodgers being his next team. Its po sible that Sasaki might prefer to be away from the big spotlight of Los Angeles. Wolfe has mentioned that Sasaki wasnt always fairly treated by the Japanese media and might benefit from being in a smaller market. Its also theoretically po sible that Sasaki could find more endorsement deals on a team other than the Dodgers, where he wouldnt be in the shadow of Ohtani and Yamamoto. The Dodgers also have a long list of pitchers who have succumbed to significant injuries in recent years, which could perhaps give Sasaki pause.  Those are mostly speculative reasons for or against Sasaki signing with the Dodgers. As mentioned, its unknown how or why he will make his decision and the Dodgers are still considered the favorites by many in the baseball world. That includes MLBTR readers, as about his landing spot has the Dodgers well ahead of the Padres and Blue Jays.  Subjectively, the Dodgers need Sasaki le s than the other two finalists. The Padres have a significant budget crunch and havent made any moves of significance this winter, perhaps waiting to see if they can land Sasaki before deciding next steps. The Jays are coming off a disappointing season, have several key players nearing free agency and have seemingly been the runner-up on every notable free agent in recent years. The Dodgers, as mentioned, have a lot of good things going for them as a franchise.  The big decision will be known relatively soon, one way or another. Sasaki has to sign by the end of his posting window, which closes on January 23. He could officially sign as soon as January 15, when the new international signing period opens. Its also po sible that news of his decision will be reported before he actually puts pen to paper, so the bomb could potentially drop at any time.  Terance Mann Jersey